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The Curse of Fenric Format Reviewed: DVD Review As it turned out, The Curse of Fenric became the penultimate story in the classic television series of Doctor Who. It is therefore quite fitting that the story should attempt to return to the much loved Tom Baker era and the gothic horror style that was popular at that time. We also have the benefit of BBC period drama here as it is set in World War II. Linking themes here also tie in many story threads from throughout Sylvester McCoys era, and this is thoughtfully done. The story sees the TARDIS land near a naval base in England, where Russian commandos are prowling the coastline. The Doctor and Ace get into the naval base where Dr. Judson is trying to decrypt Viking runes, but local Vicar Mr Wainwright has translations that are handed over. The base is used for decrypting German messages mainly but newly appeared runes from the church are fed into the Ultima (decryption) machine. The British plan is that the Russians should steal the Ultima machine which contains a flask of poison to be released when a specific message is translated. Vampires and Haemovores now abound and threaten the soldiers, and it transpires that Judson is actually Fenric, an ancient power dating back centuries. He has with him 'The Ancient One' who eventually kills Fenric after a game of chess and revelations about Ace abound. This story certainly tries to go back to the gothic horror traditions of some of the finest Doctor Who stories of all time. Whilst this is a good strategy for the show, especially bearing in mind the political moves at the BBC at the time trying to axe the show, it is also dangerous as the story will inevitably be compared to and judged against those classic stories in the 1970's. So, the big question is 'does the story live up to those that preceeded it?' Largely, the answer is yes. The story isn't perfect by any means but by making it somewhat of a character piece about Ace and her relationship with the Doctor whilst tying in other aspects of Aces' time in the TARDIS it does go a long way to making the mood dark and mysterious, something that fits the gothic style. I also like the faith arguements, and the comparison of the faith Ace has in teh Doctor with that of Wainwright in God is fitting in the piece. The cast does very well here. Without giving away the ending too much, Sylvester McCoy pitches his performance perfectly given the revelations at the end about Ace. Throughout he is troubled and contemplative, meeting Aces youth and enthusiasm with a calm head. Sophie Aldred also does very well, and seems to mature the character somewhat during the course of this story. Of the guest cast, aside from some occasionally eratic accents there isn't really a bad performance. The picks of them are probably Nicholas Parsons as Wainwright and Dinsdale Landen as Dr. Judson. Also of note are the small roles played by the ladies of the Wrens, backing up the main cast well. The last great aspect of this story is the pace of it. It is pitched right given the context and builds nicely when needed, relaxing at other times. The main gripe I have is really with the vampires and haemovores as their makeup isn't massively convincing and I genuinely feel that they may have been shoe-horned in at a ralatively late stage to try to evoke more memories of the gothic horror of some of the Tom Baker stories. They are relatively unobtrusive though and don't let the story down too badly. Overall, The Curse of Fenric is a good story that both benefits and suffers from the comparisons it will inevitably draw with similarly styled Tom Baker stories. Given the context of the shows production, in that it was under the constant threat of the axe, producing such quality is difficult so in general everyone concerned should receive a pat on the back. This story is a good watch, and one that you can come back to time and again and notice something new and interesting about the production. Rating:  |